The AR-15 rifle has served longer, and in more forms, than any other issue martial arm on earth.

Like the old adage “victory has 100 fathers and defeat is an orphan”, there are many “fathers” of the AR-15: Rossignol’s experimental ENT B5 (1901), Eklund’s AG-42 Ljungman (1942), the French MAS-49 (1949), Fairchild, Colt, etcetera. But it was the genius of Eugene Morrison Stoner and his visionary application of the direct impingement gas system that truly revolutionized small arms design. Originally conceived as the AR-10 (in .308 Win.), the smaller, lighter AR-15 (in .223 Rem.), was first used by the US Air Force in 1962 and formally adopted in 1963 as the M16.

Unlike conventional gas-operated firearms, direct impingement does away with a separate gas cylinder, gas piston, and operating rod assembly. Gasses act directly upon the bolt and carrier thereby saving weight and reducing complexity, cost, and the number of part replacements. (Btw, Eugene Stoner Colt, and the U.S. Air Force believed that a forward assist needlessly complicated the rifle, adding cost with no real benefit).

Original USGI AR-15/M16 receivers have never been available to the U.S. commercial market due to its “machinegun” status, and, good quality original or replacement parts have become increasingly scarce. Today, both semi-auto AR-15 receivers and parts are available from a variety of commercial sources with varying degrees of dimensional fidelity, durability and safety. Like most things, all AR-15’s are not created equal.

For those desiring an AR-15 rifle today, one can build, or buy complete, a rifle that is a faithful recreation of the original, or a 21st Century evolution. With Fulton Armory’s acclaimed semiautomatic FAR-15 receiver, parts, components and assembly techniques we can take you wherever you want to go.

From the no-nonsense utility of our Special Series, to our Classic series, to the un-matched precision of our FAR-15 Peerless, every Fulton Armory FAR-15 is lovingly created, one at a time, from the finest receivers, parts, and assembly techniques available, anywhere.

The Fulton Armory FAR-15 is truly a "rifle for life," an heirloom to be passed down for the ages.